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Executive Summary. Problem Statement. What Actions Can

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Executive Summary Problem Statement What actions can Texas take to improve its health care delivery system? Background Texas level of performance ranks among the worst in areas of health care access and health care prevention and treatment. Limited health carriers, primary care practitioner shortages, and emergency room overuse prevent Texas from offering a better health care delivery system. Options Option One-Texas would be able to identify super-utilizers, reduce their emergency room visits, and direct them to outpatient care services through a hot-spotting initiative. Option Two-Through Integrated Practice Units, patients with complex health issues would receive support from a multidisciplinary team focused on increasing access to …show more content…

Another 587 practitioners are needed to resolve the shortage (KFF, 2017). Texas also has high emergency department use. The ED visit rate in Texas is 49 visits per 100 people (NCHS, 2012). Texas’ overall ranking indicates a need to improve access and health care prevention and treatment (quality). The following options offer solutions to improve Texas’ health care delivery system. Options Option One Texas can adopt a “hot-spotting” initiative to identify super-utilizers and direct them toward outpatient resources. Super-utilizers are patients with hard-to-manage and complex chronic conditions. Their chronic conditions worsen over time, which leads to more expensive, invasive and risky treatment (Camden, 2017). Hot-spotting uses data to identify super-utilizers. It also uses data to understand the cause of high ED use, to allocate resources, and to design effective interventions (Camden, 2017). Effective interventions will improve the patient’s ability to access needed care and services outside the emergency departments and hospitals. New Jersey’s hot-spotting initiative called upon AmeriCorps volunteers to help connect super-utilizers to outpatient resources and accompany patients to appointments, coordinate medications, determine benefit eligibility and offer emotional support (Martinez et al., 2016). The coalition’s founder, Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, reported a 50 percent drop in

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